Despite deaths, still no action on Hong Kong beauty industry
Government proposals continue to percolate through political system, even as two cosmetics workers convicted of manslaughter await sentencing
Five years after a serious blunder at a beauty salon left one woman dead and three others seriously injured, the Hong Kong government has not cracked down on unscrupulous procedures in the medical cosmetics industry, which is still booming.
As if the fatal errors never happened, clinics continue to promote questionable procedures. A government proposal to ban high-risk treatments unless supervised by a doctor has not served its purpose, its implementation dragging on for years.
Some procedures identified as safety concerns continue to be performed without a doctor, including common facelift techniques, such as high-intensity focused ultrasound (Hifu) treatment and Botox injections.
And there is still no specific legislation to regulate beauty clinics, no department to control the use of novel devices in clinics and no disciplinary board to review training and qualification of beauticians.
“Nothing has changed in 30 years in the regulations despite so many fatal blunders taking place,” legislator Kwok Ka-ki, a doctor by profession, said.
Dr Feng Chi-shun, a retired Hong Kong pathologist who is now a local medical commentator, said: “Despite all the scandals, women continue to flock to unethical beauty vendors and untrained doctors for bogus and substandard beauty treatments.”
LEGAL – FOR NOW